The macroscopic flow occurring during compression moulding
of randomly oriented strands (ROS) of thermoplastic composite
was modelled. In previous attempts at modelling such flow, the
asymptotic plateau could not be recovered using viscous behaviour
(Newtonian or Carreau shear thinning). The major contributions of
the present work are:
The use of a viscoplastic law to model the macroscopic squeeze
flow of ROS. This behaviour only calls for two physical material
properties (yield stress and viscosity).
A finite element implementation of this model, using specific
numerical methods (mixed Lagrangian/Eulerian approach,
modified Papanastasiou law, coupled boundary conditions).
Experimental isothermal squeeze flow tests using an instrumented
hot press. These tests permitted:
Fig. 9. Load vs. final strain for experimental results and model prediction. A
maximum of 50% strain was not exceeded since the flow was restricted using the
picture frame.
Fig. 8. Comparison of sample height model prediction and experimental measurements
for small strands. The viscosity and the yield stress values are lower for small
strands. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the
reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
4
4.5
5
5.5
6
6.5
7
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Sample Height (mm)
Time (s)
Analytical
FEM
Fig. 10. Newtonian test case. Sample height versus time predicted using the finite
element method presented in this paper, and evaluated with the analytical model
under the lubrication assumption.
76 G.-P. Picher-Martel et al. / Composites: Part A 81 (2016) 69–77
– Identification of the material properties (yield stress and
equivalent viscosity) for three types of ROS materials. The
larger the strands the higher the yield stress and the equivalent
viscosity.
– Experimental validation of the numerical predictions. A viscoplastic
model proved efficient at reproducing the behaviour
of such ROS materials.
The proposed numerical implementation could be integrated in
existing industrial finite element codes, such as injection moulding
codes. This would open the way to prediction of flows in more
complex and industrial geometries.